Counseling Psychology VS. Clinical Psychology

I found a pretty nice and short article outlining the differences between a counseling psychologist from a clinical psychologist. Sometimes that line between them can get confusing because they tend to be very similar in some of what they do. Mainly it's the job of both counseling and clinical psychologists to help people, but they do it in a variety of different ways and in different areas.

A main difference or how you can start to identify a Counseling psychologist from a Clinical one is where you'd typically find one. You'll find a counseling psychologist in an elementary or high school environment, in universities, and sometimes maybe even in the work place. They work with all types of people meaning small children to adults and they help with minor distresses and issues, in other words, things that can be resolved in a shorter amount of time and with some guidance and support. Clinical psychologists deal with the more serious disorders of mental health such as schizophrenia or manic depression, things that need more attention and sometimes medical attention in the form of prescription drugs.

Often times you feel a little better about talking to someone when you are in a high stress situation, even if the problem has not been solved after you talk to eachother. At least someonae else knows what you're going trhough now and can maybe even point you in a direction that can help you out! This is mainly why you can find counseling psychologists working in schools, universities or places where there are a lot of high stress situations. As the article indicates, the word 'counsel' is from the Latin 'Counsulere' which means, in short, to consult or advise. That's just what Counseling psychologists do everyday. In a way, they can be your own personal little advisor when times get a little too rough ,and they can often help to put things in perspective and talk you through it.

If you want to learn more about some of the other distinguishing factors between counseling and clinical psychology, the article does a good job hitting some main points and connecting some of it back to history too! Click here to read it!